A teenaged Nicole Poole would finish high school soccer practice in Ithaca, N.Y., around 4:30 p.m., and her parents would be waiting in the car with something important – dinner — for the drive, about an hour and a half away, to Fulton for hockey practice.
Often, they wouldn’t get back home until 10 or 10:30 p.m.
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“And then I’d do it all over again the next day,” she said, chuckling.
Long before Nicole married Kings forward Dustin Brown and long before she became a hockey mom to four children – Jake, Mason, Cooper, and Mackenzie – she played defense on the ice and was an accomplished two-sport star. If there were more hours in the day, Nicole probably would have crushed it at the high school and collegiate level in tennis, which she plays as an adult.
Brown’s wide-ranging perspective from a lifetime in and around hockey made her ideally equipped for her recently appointed role as the executive director of the Los Angeles Jr. Kings and the LA Lions.
“She knows the game as well as anyone, has four kids that play hockey, and has the same goals as us in wanting to grow the game and expose more kids to the sport,” said Jennifer Pope, the Kings’ vice president of community relations, who was involved in the hiring process and discussions during the past few months.
“She was honestly a perfect fit. I’m really looking forward to seeing what we can all do together in the coming months and years.”
Brown will be the primary point person for parents and will lead the advisory board, along with the Kings and Toyota Sports Performance Center, the Kings’ facility in El Segundo where the 24 Jr. Kings teams for boys and six Lions teams for girls are based.
NATTY BOUND! HUGE CONGRATS to our Andrew Stone- & Dominique Petrie-led #LALions 14U AAA team, which celebrated the Pacific District title in its division today to punch its ticket to the upcoming USA Hockey National Championships! 🦁 🏆 💪
READ MORE ▶️ https://t.co/lCdjYpR6te pic.twitter.com/6lmGWjvgb8
— LA Lions Hockey (@LALionsHockey) April 11, 2021
Later this month, three former products of the Jr. Kings system – forward Andre Gasseau and defensemen Aidan Hreschuk and Ty Murchison, all 2021 NHL draft-eligible – will represent the U.S. in the IIHF U18 World Championship in Texas.
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Brad Berman, president of American Sports Entertainment Company, which is the operator of Toyota Sports Performance Center, said in a statement: “Nicole’s background and knowledge will help TSPC elevate an already successful organization to new heights. Nicole will be instrumental in forging a parent coalition to better serve and understand the needs of the membership.”
The Athletic spoke to Brown about the new position, her life in hockey and how NHL families are coping with COVID-19 protocols this season.
(The interview has been lightly edited and condensed.)
What were among the factors that led you to this decision?
For the past few years, my kids have been playing in the Jr. Kings organization. Over the years, I’ve gone to them on certain things that I was seeing on the parents’ side that I thought maybe we could tweak or work on. A few years ago, I chatted with them but, for me, it wasn’t the right time for my family.
My daughter (Mackenzie), who is now 7, was not in school full time. It just wasn’t a good time. The opportunity came along now and my kids are a little bit older and my daughter is in school full time.
It just came at the perfect time, where I could devote the time that was needed and still be a mom, because that’s the most important thing to me.
How much do you think it will help that you’ve encountered many of the issues, first as a player and now as a parent?
Not only did I grow up in it, but my husband grew up in it and we both had different experiences with it. Now my kids are growing up in it.
I have kids that play at the highest level and a kid who likes hockey but doesn’t love hockey. He plays in the in-house program because he likes the social side of it. So, I have that perspective also. I understand the families who have kids that play hockey for fun. That’s great also. I can see both sides of it and add perspective to that as well.
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Was this a case of the right job, right time?
It was a pretty easy decision. I went home one night and wanted to talk it over with Dustin. I needed him to be supportive and on board. Also to have a conversation with our kids because they’ve never known anything other than mom always being around and having all the time for them. I needed them to be on board also and understand it might change a little bit in terms of my availability to them. But they all were super excited and Dustin was super supportive from the very first time we talked about it. He told me he thought it would be a great thing for me and I’d be great at it.
When the kids get a little bit older have you ever thought about pursuing a career in, say, scouting or management?
(laughs) I have not ever thought about it. I think I have enough on my plate for a while. I’ve got to get Dustin through his career also.
You were telling me that you played with and against boys as a kid and weren’t able to switch over to girls programs until middle school. The landscape couldn’t be more different for young girls playing hockey.
These girls are so lucky growing up today. They have so many women to look up to and so many more opportunities than we had growing up in women’s sports. One of the most exciting things that I’ve done with Mackenzie was when I took her to watch the U.S. women’s national team when they played in Anaheim. The place was close to sold out, if it wasn’t sold out. It was so exciting to see all of those women play and to see all of the girls there watching, seeing and thinking, ‘Hey this is amazing. I can do this someday.’
And I think it is awesome to have (AHL scout) Blake Bolden on board (with the Kings). She’s amazing and these little girls can look up to her. That’s one of the most important things for these girls to see some of these women that have done it, so they know it’s attainable and it is for all of them.
When I was young and growing up, I didn’t see or think it was possible. So, it’s great to see the direction it is moving in.
How old was Mackenzie when she started?
We put all of our kids on skates by the time they were 3, maybe 4 at the latest. She loves hockey and we tried to get her to play other sports. Unfortunately, that hasn’t panned out, but we’re still working on that. It’s really important for kids to be multi-sport athletes, especially when they’re younger, to try anything and everything that they want to try. But she does love hockey and she loves sitting and watching Dustin’s games and watching tournaments with her brothers and watching them play.
I might finally get another defenseman in the family. The boys take after their dad.
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What have been the specific challenges your family has faced during the pandemic?
It’s been harder than usual given the circumstances. Trying to be as super careful as we possibly can be to keep Dustin safe and healthy but also recognizing we have four kids. If they have the chance to be in school, they need to be in school. It’s been tough having all four kids at home when we have (remote learning) school. One kid walks by another kid’s room and says something and a kid yells and another kid yells.
You’ve got four kids on Zoom and they leave their microphone on and their classes are hearing them yell at their siblings. Dustin was home for the first part of it to help manage that and we could each take two kids. With him back in it, full swing, it’s been just on me. That’s been interesting
We’ve done a good job of doing the best that we can to keep the kids happy and to keep everybody safe and most importantly to keep Dustin healthy so that he can play hockey and doesn’t bring anything into the rink that affects anybody else.
How are you handling it when the kids are playing hockey?
When my kids do play, they’re the only ones out there in masks. I don’t let them go in the locker room. We don’t congregate with any other kids or families away from the rink. We just send them in for their ice and they come out and we leave and do our own thing, which has been tough because they want to play with their friends. They want to see their friends. I want to talk to the other parents. Right now, it’s not the best thing for us to do for Dustin. We’re taking that day by day.
I would venture that one of the best Zoom moments was when this season was starting and Dustin got a kick out of mentioning that his kids didn’t think he was any good.
That was my oldest son, who just turned 13. His measuring stick is Connor McDavid. So, if you’re not Connor McDavid, you pretty much stink at hockey. That was how that all started. And it’s been fun. It started before the season even began and Dustin has been having a great season but still has not gotten much love from Jake.
(Top photo of Nicole Brown and family: Aaron Poole / NHLI via Getty Images)
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